I am writing you this letter out of deep concern for our people. A little over a hundred years ago, you came from a totally assimilated background, with no connection to the Jewish people. But something bothered you about the way Jews were treated by the rest of the world.
You decided, on your own, that something should be done to protect the Jewish people from the kind of oppression we were suffering. You gathered visionaries, philosophers, leaders and statesmen. You conceived a plan to extricate our people from the bondage of oppression at the hands of the world.
You determined that the only way for the Jewish nation to be safe from attack by anti-Semites was for us to have our own State, our own sovereign government, our own military sowing fear into the hearts of our enemies, our own language recalling our proud history and our noble roots, our own economy and culture showing the strength and ingenuity of the Jewish mind, and our own achievements that no one could ever take away from us.
Through years of thought and action, you set in motion a series of events that culminated in the full realization of your vision. For half a century, the Jewish nation has proven you right. Your vision has proven to be the greatest achievement of mankind in the past millennium. Your followers took a nation off the trash heap of history, from the ashes of Europe’s ovens and the dungeons of the civilized world’s conscience, and resurrected its nobility of old and greatness of today.
I am a part of that vision, Theodor. I lived a comfortable life in a safe and warm community. I was treated as an equal among men, given all the liberties and opportunities I could want. But through it all, I knew that my place as a Jew was with the Jewish people, living the Jewish destiny in the Jewish homeland. Five years ago, I made my part of the vision come true. I settled in Israel, put down my roots here, and began to raise my family as free Jews in the free Jewish State.
I was proud of my decision, Theodor. For what it’s worth, I still am. But I feel that I must ask you, Theodor, in all honesty, what is it all worth?
Your vision, your dream, the adventure so many of us thought we were carrying out, is no more than a chimera floating on the desert of despair. It is a vision, yes. But it fades on the background of despondency. All the success we thought we had achieved, all the achievements we thought we had valued, all the values we thought we had carried, have all vanished.
You spoke, Theodor, about a State with a government that would guarantee our values, a military that would protect us, an economy that would sustain us, and a culture that would nourish us. But the reality of today is very different.
Our government cannot figure out what our values should be. We have a Supreme Court that decides that anyone who simply utters the words “I wish I were a Jew,” can automatically become one. We have representatives in our parliament who openly show support for our enemies. These same representatives helped determine the course of Israel’s foreign and domestic policy. Our Attorney General allows such expressions of support for our enemies, but forbids expressions of political opinion that call for our own defense. And the rule of law is more important to the people who are victimized by it than it is to the people who claim to be its champions.
We have a military that cannot understand the meaning of deterrence, and for whom fear is more often felt than sown among others. Jews are killed daily on the streets of Israel. The blood of your followers flows freely in the gutters of your cities. And our military suffices with bombing a few empty buildings, more often than not those that have already been mostly destroyed in previous attacks.
Our economy is in tatters, Theodor, as our leaders are more interested in political deals than in ensuring the livelihood of our people. Disabled citizens spent 77 days in the streets through cold, snow, and rain, and managed to gain an extra 300 shekels a month in support from the government. The Bank of Israel Governor agreed to lower interest rates drastically simply so the budget could be passed, but resulting in the highest monthly inflation in 3 years. And at a time when unemployment is sky-rocketing, certain public employees are earning 20 times the national average salary (and 40 times the minimum wage) in sinecure jobs granted them by political allies.
Our culture is one of the more profane examples of the lack of values a society can have. It is more acceptable for a musical group to represent Israel internationally while waving the flags of our bitterest enemies than it is for Jewish texts to be studied in our public schools. And while Jews are being murdered at will in the Jewish State, our commercial television station prefers to broadcast soccer games or comedy shows than the reality of death and injury we must face.
Worst of all, Theodor, our political leaders of all stripes insist on demanding that our enemies prevent attacks against us rather than acting to protect us themselves. A war is being waged against us, Theodor, and our leaders pretend that we are about to achieve peace. Jews are being killed in the Jewish homeland, Theodor, not in Europe or America. And the Jewish government refuses to defeat our enemies.
Theodor, in your inspired vision, you forgot one small detail. You forgot to instruct those who were to come after you that buildings do not kill Jews. You forgot to leave a message for Arik that it is people we must be concerned with – protecting and nourishing our own, and eliminating our enemies.
Unfortunately, Theodor, that small omission could now easily spell the downfall of all the achievements your vision inspired. I trust that like every good Zionist, you are rolling in your grave. 20 more Zionist heroes joined you there today, Theodor. Frankly, there aren’t that many left alive.
Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. Yehuda Poch is a journalist living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
